Daily Yellowstone journal., 1887-02-11

We heard afterward that as he reached
the fort one afternoon, and IL became
known that he would push on, every
effort was made to dissuade him. For
q time he was silent, grim, deaf. Then
he pointed to the northeast and said:
''There lie the bones of my children
and friends, and ! will not rest until !
have avenged them thrice over"
They told him the country was alive
with hosnles, and that every rod of the
way was beset with perils; but as the
sun went down he harnessed his mules
TO the iron tongue, climbed into the
saddle, and without q nod of farewell to
any one he rode to the west in the
gathering gloom-more grim, more de-
termined, more of q devil than q human
being. He had Travelled q good share OF
the night over . country in which death
lurked in every ravine; but the watchful
savages had not espied him. He had
Travelled until mid-afternoon next day
along a trail where savages outnumbered
the snakes twenty to one, but somehow
they had missed him. We were riding
at full speed for the fort, keeping the
shelter OF tho dry ravines and the valleys,
and expecting at any moment to be pur-
sued when we ran upon Grim Walker.
His wagon stood on the open prairie, at
least half a mile from the river and the
shelter Of the cottonwoods. The four
mules had been unhamessel and turned
ont TO Craze. and the man was cooking
his supper at q campfire, the smoke OF
which would draw Indians for ten miles
around. Our astonishment when we
found him there alone kept us dumb for
o few minutes. We sat on our horses
and stared at him. and he greeted our
presence 10y a mere nod. When l recog-
nized him as Grim Walker I began to
suspect the enterprise he had on foot,
and after | had put q few questions he
briefly explained:
Il am here to kill Indians. You can
look my wagon over il you care to-"
Il was what l have described. He had
q barrel or more Of fresh water, q lot OF
-four and meat, q small stove TO cook on
and a perfect arsenal Of firearms. It
was evident that the Indians could not
get at him with bullets, nor tomahawk,
nor fire, and it would take weeks to
starve him out. There wa only n
thing that troubled the man. His stock
would he killed off at once when he was
attacked, and he would then have no
way Of moving his wagon. We helped
him out Of his dilemma by agreeing to
take the animals to the fort. The har-
nesses were piled into his house, and it
was understood that he would come for
the mules when he wanted them. He
had a compass, and we gave him the ex-
act bearings, and as we rode away he was
preparing to toast another piece Of meat,
seemingly utterly u~nconcerned over the
dangers Of his surroundings. As to what
happened him during the next three
weeks l had a few meagre details from
his own lips, but plenty of information
from warriors who afterward became
friendly" That is, when licked out Of
their boots half a dozen times, their vii.
lagos destroyed, many of their ponies
shot, and their squaws and children
driven to temporary starvation, they
cried for peace in order to recruit and
make ready for another campaign.
The campfire which Grim Walker built
saved the three of us from being am
pushed. A warrior told me that forty
savages were between us and the fort
when the smoke led them TO believe that
a large party of immigrants must be
campel in the bottoms. II could only
be a large party which would dare build
such a fire in a hostile country. The
warriors were all drawn off by a signal
TO attack the larger game, and before
shutdown that evening 200 murderous
redskins were opening their eyes very
wide at sight Of the one lone wagon an
cborei on the prairie under their noses,
How did il get there? Where were the
horses or mules? Was il occupied;
They must have asked Themselves these
questions over and over again. but there
stood the wagon, grim, silent. mysterious.
The whole hand finally moved down for
a closer inspection, believing the vehicle
TO have been abandoned, and hopeful
that something in the shape of plumber
had been left behind. They had come
close-they had entirely surrounded the
vehicle-when a sheet Of fame darted
from n of the port holes, and Grim
Walker had begun to tally his victims.
Before the redskins could get out Of
range he had killed seven Of them, using
shot guns and buckshot. 1t was only
when they came TO return the fire that
the savages discovered what sort Of q
vehicle had been hauled out there among
them. They wasted hundreds Of bullets
before they ceased firing, and with a rife
Walker killed two more Of them before
night set in.
The superstitious nature Of the Indian
would have driven him away had he not
burned for revenge. And too, it was
argued that the wagon must contain
something Of great value to have been
built that way, and greed was added to
the thirst for vengeance. They believed
that the bottom Of the box, at'least, was
OF wood, and about three hours after
dark a number Of warriors, each having
q bunch Of dry grass under his arm,
crept forward to the vehicle 10 start a
fire under IL, They crept as noiselessly
Q serpentc, but before a man Of them
had PASSED under a double barreled shot
gun belched forth lis contents, and two
more bucks set out for the happy hunt.
ing grounds. Next day, refusing to be-
lieve that a wagon could be bullet proof.
the Indians opened q fusilade, which was
maintained for two hours. They were
behind trees and logs and under cover,
and not a shot was provoked in re.
Spouse. Various schemes were concocted
to get at the wagon, which was finally
believed to contain a party OF hunters,
but nnnn nrOmised Success. At noon,